It’s Da “BOM”! How a “bill of materials” makes sales enablement content more readily available to reps

It’s Da “BOM”! How a “bill of materials” makes sales enablement content more readily available to reps

By Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy Officer

September 21, 2016

For as long as there has been product marketing, there have been launch kits, from glossy brochures and multi-page spec sheets to the infamous tech-heavy “product deck.” These assets help your reps talk fluently about your products…but not much else. That’s why Wipro’s Thierry van Herwijnen believes the standard launch checklist needs a rethink, and companies need to start investing in knowledge management—which is part of the overall sales enablement organization at Wipro.

One reason necessitating the investment in better management of sales enablement assets? Deals are already complex, and they’re getting more so. Van Herwijnen noted there are 11 different touch points for reps before a decision is made, and their sales cycles last between six months and two years. What’s more, 6.4 stakeholders are involved in their buying decisions.

To face these realities, he said Wipro had to develop a vision around knowledge management—one that would ultimately equip sales teams with the range of messages, insights and tools they need to have winning sales conversations.

By moving toward a more predictable model for their “bill of materials” (a.k.a. “BOM”), Wipro has made their enablement content more readily available to reps right from their sales portal. This has helped the company overcome some major sales enablement challenges, such as lack of consistency in content, limited accountability and measurement, and limited governance.

By making the jump from knowledge to wisdom with knowledge management, van Herwijnen says Wipro has made strides in the following areas of their sales enablement program:

Sales content optimization and governance

Adoption and messaging supply chain optimization

Sales insights delivery

Alignment between sales and marketing

Social selling participation and buy-in

Corporate Visions was instrumental in improving this process, according to van Herwijnen. Corporate Visions worked with Wipro and conducted a sample audit looking at all current assets, recommended improvements, and established a baseline message to help reinforce message consistency. Wipro also took advantage of Corporate Visions templates to help them seamlessly incorporate messaging from its Conversation Roadmap into its sales enablement assets.

About the Author

Tim Riesterer – Chief Strategy Officer

Tim Riesterer has dedicated his career to improving the conversations marketers and salespeople have with prospects and customers. His books, “Customer Message Management”, “Conversations that Win the Complex Sale”, and “Three Value Conversations”, focus on improving market-ready messages and tools that marketers and salespeople can use to win more deals. As chief strategy and research officer for Corporate Visions, he sets the direction and develops products for this leading marketing and sales messaging, content and training company.